AFP PHOTO/ MOHAMMED HUWAIS
Three Yemeni soldiers have been killed following the attempted assassination of a top security official.
In the ongoing battle between militants and the fragile Yemeni state, twin remote control bombs were detonated at the motorcade of a Central Security commander, Abdulwahhab al-Wali on Sunday.
Al-Wali survived the attack, but three soldiers were killed and others wounded, Reuters reported.
The attack comes less than a week after the attempted assassination of politician Mohammed Ali Ahmed who also survived the bomb blast.
Islamists linked to Al Qaeda have been behind a series of recent attacks after a joint US-Yemeni offensive curbed their operations earlier in the year.
The offensive failed to root out the radical-Islamist movement however, and its members have responded with numerous attacks on Yemeni state security and politicians over the past several months.
Last week Yemen announced the killing of Said al-Shehri, a leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). This was seen as a much needed victory in the war against AQAP, but on Sunday the Interior Ministry of Saudi Arabia announced it was not able to confirm al-Shehri’s death.
On Saturday AQAP released a statement on its website, telling people to attack “America’s ambassadors or emissaries.” This declaration comes in the wake of recent anti-American attacks in response to an American-made internet video insulting the Prophet Mohammed.
